The present invention relates to a track apparatus for guided vehicles, and more especially for vehicles guided by means of a grooved guide track which is separate from the runway on which circulate wheels providing the vertical support of the vehicle.
More particularly, the invention relates to a switch for a grooved guide track, which is constituted by a switch frame formed from two fixed stock rails and from two partially movable switchblades.
Transport vehicles which move along runways on which circulate wheels supporting the vehicle, the guiding of which vehicle being provided by rollers which follow a grooved guide track, are known. For this type of vehicle, conventional switches used for conventional rail transport means cannot be used as such. Indeed, that would require moving weighty and bulky components which would take a relatively long time to maneuver and would require considerable effort.
One type of solution for a switch for a grooved guide track is, for example, described in French Patent 2,307,689. The switch described in this document is constituted, essentially, by a fixed subassembly, confronting inner vertical faces of which constitute outer faces of the guide grooves, and by a movable subassembly which is maneuverable in the manner of the switchblades of a traditional switch, the opposite outer vertical faces of which serve as inner faces for the guide grooves which orient, in one direction or another, a guide roller independently of any action on wheels serving for the support of the vehicle. As is explained in this document, the fixed subassembly is constituted by a single entity made of steel cast en bloc, comprising in itself parts serving for the sliding support of the movable subassembly and parts serving for the embedding of the movable subassembly, and also parts permitting the fixing of control, interlocking and immobilization systems of the movable subassembly in each of the positions that it may take.
In order to obtain complex components cast directly en bloc, molds need to be manufactured beforehand and must, of course, be adapted to each type of apparatus which it is necessary to manufacture. It is therefore necessary to have a collection of molds available so as to obtain right-hand deviations and left-hand deviations, for example.
In addition to the fact that it is necessary to have a large collection of molds available, the manufacturing cycle of molded articles is particularly long and delicate.
It will be understood therefore that although this solution is generally technically satisfactory, it is costly, laborious and difficult to implement